Mom is going home today...

Today I am being discharged from the hospital.  We are very thankful to all the wonderful staff that has taken such good care of me the week that I have been here.  I know I will be missing my wonderful nurses as I continue to recover at home.  Good thing I am related to some great nurses, huh?  Plus I have Nurse Brian, who has been so incredible through all of this.

Now we are entering the next phase of having to leave our sweet Ingrid here.   We know she is in good hands, but please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we know the next few weeks will be challenging.  All of your nice messages have really sustained us.  Thank you for being patient with us if we have been slow to respond.  Also, we know many people are excited to meet Ingrid, so we are taking visitors slowly as we need to make sure our focus is on her.

We still don't know how long Ingrid will be here.  We have been told that they like to keep babies up until they would be full term.  For Ingrid that would be about 4 weeks.  What they really want is to make sure they are able to breath and eat on their own.  Breathing is going well for her, so that is good.  Right now she is still being fed by gavage, so they are putting my milk directly into her tummy.  Typically babies born this early need a lot of extra help learning how to nurse.  We met with a lactation consultant today and had our first "nursing class" together.  Ingrid was a bit sleepy, but showed a little interest, so that was promising.   Also she had some jaundice, but that has improved for now so she is no longer in a "tanning bed".  All the doctors and nurses continue to tell us how pleased they are with how well she is doing.  They also tell us how cute she is all the time.   Of course we already know that she is the cutest baby here.  :)

I think that is all for now.  Check back for more updates later.
Love,
Kristy, Brian and Ingrid

Ingrid and Mommy

Kristy was so happy to have been able to hold Ingrid on day one of delivery!

By day three, Kristy settles into Kangaroo Care, which is very important for Ingrid and Kristy's continuing recovery.

Birth Story

Kristy started getting blurry vision Saturday morning. This was the sign that the preeclampsia had gone far enough and that Kristy needed to deliver. Delivery was by c-section, and it all happened very fast. I was given scrubs to put on as Kristy was being prepped. I was then ushered into the OR to be next to Kristy, to talk to her, and to hold her hand during surgery. Before we knew, Baby Rolig was born and I announced, "It's a girl!" Then Kristy cried, "I always wanted a girl!"

Ingrid Lee Rolig

Announcing the birth of Ingrid Lee Rolig, born on Saturday, March 27, at 8:09 a.m. and weighing in at a hefty 3 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 17 and 3/4 inches.

Kristy woke up with some blurred vision, which was a sign that she needed to deliver by C-section. Both Kristy and Ingrid are doing well in recovery.

Day 3

Not too much to update today.  We are still here just waiting.  We have passed the first goal of making sure the steroid shots for Baby's lungs has had enough time to take effect.  At this point we will just be waiting to see if there are any changes in Kristy's blood pressure or other blood work, etc.  We have been told that this is inevitable as the only cure for preeclampsia is delivery.  Everyone tells us that the baby seems healthy and active but it is about finding the best time to deliver for both mom and baby.

We have had a chance to visit with someone from the NICU as we know the baby will be early and little.  This put our minds at ease as she told us that 33-34 week babies do well.  They do tend to need extra time learning how to feed, but developmentally they don't usually have too many problems.  Also this has helped us to mentally prepare that the baby will be spending some time there in the first days and/or weeks.

Again thanks for all the messages and support.  We really appreciate it.
Love,
Brian, Kristy and Baby

Day 2 en hospital

We are thankful for all the email messages, voicemails, and blog comments sent our way. They are encouraging and helpful. Sorry we haven't gotten back to you. We've had a busy day.

Kristy will be staying in the hospital on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. We had an ultrasound showing Baby Rolig weighing 4 pounds and in good health, and cute.

We are trying to reach some goals, the 1st being to allow for a two-shot course of steroids to take affect in accelerating development of the baby's lungs. We will have accomplished this by noon tomorrow. The 2nd goal will then be to reach 34 weeks, which is next Wednesday. The longer Kristy can keep growing baby inside, the better.

Thanks again for the positive thoughts and prayers.

Brian & Kristy

Baby Watch

Due to preeclampsia, Kristy is being put on bed rest and staying over night in the hospital at least through tomorrow morning. Depending on her blood pressure and the protein levels in her urine, the following things could happen:

1. C-section soon (tomorrow, Friday, Sat?)

2. bed rest in hospital for several days or longer and then induced delivery or C-section

3. bed rest at home for several days or longer and then induced delivery or C-section

The longer we can wait, the better, because we're only at 33 weeks right now. 34 would definitely be better. Blood pressure won't really be relieved until delivery, and the blood pressure getting higher is not an option because it's not healthy for Kristy.

With these scenarios the baby will definitely be small, but the monitors are showing a good heartbeat and they're giving Kristy a couple of steroid shots for advancing lung development in Baby Rolig.

Send your prayers and positive energy our way.

More later...